But because she and her husband had invested $500 – two months’ worth of his salary as a police officer – in an inverter, or power backup device, The

But because she and her husband had invested $500 – two months’ worth of his salary as a police officer – in an inverter, or power backup device, Their aim was to create a market for inverter importers and the alternative energy lobby The drain on supply is significant: Not only does the use of inverters increase the load when electricity is available, as people are using electronic devices and charging the inverters at the same time, but 30 percent of the energy is also lost between the time an inverter is charged and the time it powers light electronic devices during blackouts. The joys of interpreting journalism written by nontechnical people. Reading between the lines, I'm guessing they're using "inverter" to mean big UPS systems-- a charger, battery bank, and output inverter. Calling the whole thing an "inverter" is like calling a car an "alternator".